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Great Plains of Greeley County
Tribune, Kansas

"Empowering rural women to become better informed healthcare consumers."

Center Highlights:

Greeley County Health Services is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of underserved, rural women in west central Kansas and eastern Colorado. The HealthCAP Healthy Woman Program is designed to bring improved healthcare services and provide opportunities for women and young girls to be better informed consumers and benefit from new leadership roles.

Women and girls often face specific challenges in their lives. So many women struggle with healthcare issues such as chronic disease, depression and obesity. This is true for rural women. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for female Kansans. A 2003 American Heart Association study revealed the lack of understanding women have of the dangers of heart disease and stroke. The target population for this proposal has a high incidence of obesity and other health risk factors. Our growing Hispanic population also has specific cultural needs. We look forward to the opportunity to improve the education and access to treatment for this population.

Additionally, we plan to promote the leadership and career development opportunities in healthcare related fields for our rural woman. There are numerous job possibilities even within our rural communities and connecting local residents to educational resources will be an important factor in this program. Promoting the success of underserved woman will have long term positive results for our healthcare systems and certainly for those who are able to continue their education and enter the healthcare profession.

We will continue the outreach activities and networking with the many community groups already in place within our communities. We hope to expand these programs through the Healthy Woman Program and provide additional outreach in community health and leadership for our female population. Often multiple community projects may result in fragmented attempts to promote healthcare issues. Improved communication among coalition members may allow them to share resources more effectively.

The Healthy Woman Program will empower our rural woman to become better informed healthcare consumers and challenge them to leadership roles within their communities.

To learn more about this CCOE, visit their web site at www.gchsnet.com.

Great Plains of Greeley County
Todd Burch
308 East Greeley
Tribune, KS 67879
Phone: (620) 376-4221
Fax: (620) 376-2406
E-Mail: tburch@sunflowertelco.com

Current as of May 2005